Parents of slain USC students see crime scene

The parents of the slain USC students arrived from China, meeting their childrens' host families for the first time. The hunt for a killer was given a boost by a $125,000 reward, but investigators say it will be a slow and methodical process to find who shot the visiting graduate students from China, Ming Qu and Ying Wu.

The victims' parents arrived Saturday night and went to the crime scene on Sunday. On Tuesday, they will go to view the bodies of their slain children.

"We tried to convey emotions to each other through our tone of voice, through looking at each other," said Jacqueline Hamilton, whose family hosted Wu in their home - steps away from where the two were gunned down inside a parked car. Wu's parents wanted to see the crime scene for themselves.

"Entering the house was almost a little chaotic because there was so much emotion, us seeing them, and feeling at a loss of what to say, and them feeling overwhelmed with entering the home," Hamilton said. "We each held each other in turn for quite a long time before anyone was able to speak."

The parents wanted to know all the details, including how Qu crawled to get help and collapsed on the porch where a memorial now stands. For two and a half hours on Sunday, they spoke through a translator.

The loss is especially painful because the victims were for each set of parents their only child. Chinese law restricts the number of children allowed to one.

The parents are expected to tour the engineering school where the two studied and meet their classmates.

As the grieving continues, so does the appeal for clues to find the killer, with hopes that it will offer a measure of comfort to the victims' parents.

"They miss their children ... I still can't quite believe that she's not coming home," Hamilton said.

The LAPD needs the public's help. Anyone with information is urged to call (877) LAPD-24-7.